diff --git a/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/LogCompactionTester.java b/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/LogCompactionTester.java
index accf5241a3538..497b8b92b272e 100644
--- a/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/LogCompactionTester.java
+++ b/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/LogCompactionTester.java
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.time.Duration;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Properties;
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@
 import joptsimple.OptionSet;
 import joptsimple.OptionSpec;
 
+import static java.util.stream.Collectors.toCollection;
+
 
 /**
  * This is a torture test that runs against an existing broker
@@ -246,9 +248,9 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
         int sleepSecs = optionSet.valueOf(options.sleepSecsOpt);
 
         long testId = RANDOM.nextLong();
-        String[] topics = IntStream.range(0, topicCount)
+        Set<String> topics = IntStream.range(0, topicCount)
                 .mapToObj(i -> "log-cleaner-test-" + testId + "-" + i)
-                .toArray(String[]::new);
+                .collect(toCollection(LinkedHashSet::new));
         createTopics(brokerUrl, topics);
 
         System.out.println("Producing " + messages + " messages..to topics " + String.join(",", topics));
@@ -278,7 +280,7 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
     }
 
 
-    private static void createTopics(String brokerUrl, String[] topics) throws Exception {
+    private static void createTopics(String brokerUrl, Set<String> topics) throws Exception {
         Properties adminConfig = new Properties();
         adminConfig.put(CommonClientConfigs.BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS_CONFIG, brokerUrl);
 
@@ -286,7 +288,7 @@ private static void createTopics(String brokerUrl, String[] topics) throws Excep
             Map<String, String> topicConfigs = Map.of(
                     TopicConfig.CLEANUP_POLICY_CONFIG, TopicConfig.CLEANUP_POLICY_COMPACT
             );
-            List<NewTopic> newTopics = Arrays.stream(topics)
+            List<NewTopic> newTopics = topics.stream()
                     .map(name -> new NewTopic(name, 1, (short) 1).configs(topicConfigs)).toList();
             adminClient.createTopics(newTopics).all().get();
 
@@ -296,7 +298,7 @@ private static void createTopics(String brokerUrl, String[] topics) throws Excep
                     Set<String> allTopics = adminClient.listTopics().names().get();
                     pendingTopics.clear();
                     pendingTopics.addAll(
-                            Arrays.stream(topics)
+                            topics.stream()
                                     .filter(topicName -> !allTopics.contains(topicName))
                                     .toList()
                     );
@@ -392,7 +394,7 @@ private static void require(boolean requirement, String message) {
         }
     }
 
-    private static Path produceMessages(String brokerUrl, String[] topics, long messages,
+    private static Path produceMessages(String brokerUrl, Set<String> topics, long messages,
                                         String compressionType, int dups, int percentDeletes) throws IOException {
         Map<String, Object> producerProps = Map.of(
                 ProducerConfig.MAX_BLOCK_MS_CONFIG, String.valueOf(Long.MAX_VALUE),
@@ -408,8 +410,10 @@ producerProps, new ByteArraySerializer(), new ByteArraySerializer())) {
 
             try (BufferedWriter producedWriter = Files.newBufferedWriter(
                     producedFilePath, StandardCharsets.UTF_8)) {
-                for (long i = 0; i < messages * topics.length; i++) {
-                    String topic = topics[(int) (i % topics.length)];
+                List<String> topicsList = List.copyOf(topics);
+                int size = topicsList.size();
+                for (long i = 0; i < messages * size; i++) {
+                    String topic = topicsList.get((int) (i % size));
                     int key = RANDOM.nextInt(keyCount);
                     boolean delete = (i % 100) < percentDeletes;
                     ProducerRecord<byte[], byte[]> record;
@@ -430,14 +434,14 @@ record = new ProducerRecord<>(topic,
         }
     }
 
-    private static Path consumeMessages(String brokerUrl, String[] topics) throws IOException {
+    private static Path consumeMessages(String brokerUrl, Set<String> topics) throws IOException {
 
         Path consumedFilePath = Files.createTempFile("kafka-log-cleaner-consumed-", ".txt");
         System.out.println("Logging consumed messages to " + consumedFilePath);
 
         try (Consumer<String, String> consumer = createConsumer(brokerUrl);
              BufferedWriter consumedWriter = Files.newBufferedWriter(consumedFilePath, StandardCharsets.UTF_8)) {
-            consumer.subscribe(Arrays.asList(topics));
+            consumer.subscribe(topics);
             while (true) {
                 ConsumerRecords<String, String> consumerRecords = consumer.poll(Duration.ofSeconds(20));
                 if (consumerRecords.isEmpty()) return consumedFilePath;